United States Steel (NYSE:X) Sees Strong Trading Volume

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 8,126,152 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 87% from the previous session’s volume of 4,351,286 shares.The stock last traded at $34.83 and had previously closed at $33.39.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com began coverage on United States Steel in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of United States Steel from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Glj Research upgraded United States Steel from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.57 price target for the company in a report on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United States Steel presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.76.

United States Steel Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company’s 50-day moving average is $38.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.16.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. United States Steel had a return on equity of 7.93% and a net margin of 3.40%. United States Steel’s revenue was down 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.92 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that United States Steel Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.87%.

Institutional Trading of United States Steel

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in X. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in United States Steel by 0.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 26,880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in United States Steel by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of United States Steel by 18.5% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,004 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co grew its stake in shares of United States Steel by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of United States Steel by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,673 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $177,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

United States Steel Company Profile

United States Steel Corporation produces and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products primarily in North America and Europe. The company operates through North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular) segments. The Flat-Rolled segment offers slabs, strip mill plates, sheets, and tin mill products, as well as iron ore and coke.